Special Retrospective Edition 2002-2006
SPU Flash
November 2006, Special Retrospective Edition 2002-2006
The mission of the ITU Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU), with
the collaboration of the Sectors, is to assist the ITU and
its membership to anticipate and analyze the strategic
implications and challenges of an evolving telecommunications
environment. It does this through a multidisciplinary approach
to telecommunication policy issues that cuts across the Sectors,
involving research, analysis, publications and the organization
of forums and workshops. The SPU shall not duplicate those
activities that fall within the mandate assigned to one of the
Sectors. The overall objective of the SPU is to adapt ITU’s work
programme to fast-emerging technology, policy and market
trends.
This special retrospective edition of SPU Flash has been
produced specially for the 17th ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, to be held in Antalya, Turkey, 6-24 November 2006.
It highlights the work conducted since the last Plenipotentiary Conference, in Marrakesh, 2002.
World Summit on the
Information Society
The proposal to hold a World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) was launched at the ITU Plenipotentiary
Conference in Minneapolis, 1998. The following PP in Marrakesh, 2002, set up a Council Working Group to oversee
ITU’s leading managerial role in the WSIS and its inputs
to the outcome documents. The Antalya PP, in 2006, will
decide upon ITU’s role in implementation of the WSIS. This
section highlights the critical role played by SPU at all stages of the WSIS, notably in leading the “content team”.
WSIS Thematic Meetings
For the purposes of the WSIS
process,
SPU
organized a series of thematic
meetings and
simultaneously developed extensive background material for these events. These include the ITU WSIS Thematic
Meeting on Internet Governance (Geneva, February 2004),
on Countering Spam (Geneva, July 2004), on Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Bridging the Digital Divide (Seoul,
2005), and on Cybersecurity (Geneva, 2005).
For more information, please see www.itu.int/wsis
WSIS Stocktaking
In line with the decisions of the
WSIS process on follow-up and
implementation of the Geneva
Declaration of Principles and
Plan of Action by stakeholders at
national, regional and international
levels, the SPU, in collaboration
with the WSIS Executive Secretariat,
undertook a stocktaking of the
implementation by governments
and all other WSIS stakeholders of
the WSIS Plan of Action. The first
In this special edition:
World Summit on the Information Society ……1
Policy research and analysis programmes ……2
Publications …………………………………………3
Council and Plenipotentiary ………………………4
ITU Telecom Forum …………………………………4
Other …………………………………………………4
WSIS Stocktaking Report 2005 was issued in November
2005 and the Summit invited ITU to continue to maintain
the stocktaking database as part of the approved WSIS
evaluation methodology (para 120 of the Tunis Agenda
for the Information Society). In addition, SPU produced a
“Golden Book” highlighting the new initiatives launched
during the Tunis Phase of WSIS, which together amounted
to a commitment of around US$3 billion.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/wsis/stocktaking or www.itu.int/wsis/goldenbook
ICT Success Stories
In response to the request in Para 28
of the Geneva Plan of Action, SPU
has designed an internet portal to
highlight some of the ongoing and
successful ICT development projects
taking place around the world. It
provides an overview of how ICTs
and the internet, in particular, are
being used to help bridge the global
divide. As one of many initiatives that
were started to prepare for the WSIS
and in accordance with the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals, this portal provides insights into some
of the many ways in which ICTs can help traditional and
marginalized societies transition into information societies.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/ict_stories
WSIS Content Team
During eight years of the WSIS
Process the Head of the ITU Strategy
and Policy Unit, Dr. Tim Kelly led
the WSIS Content Team composed
of staff seconded from the SPU
and WSIS Executive Secretariat
members. The main purpose of
the Content Team was to develop
and manage documentation for
the WSIS process as well as ensure
efficient communication between all stakeholders in their
contributions to the elaboration of the WSIS outcome
documents. The content team provided the secretariat
for the PrepComs and the Group of Friends of the Chair,
as well as for the Summit itself.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/wsis
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SPU Flash
Facilitation of the WSIS Action Line C5:
Building Confidence and Security in the
Use of ICTs
In line with the
WSIS outcome
d o c u­ m e n t s
em­pha­sizing
that building
confidence
and security
in the use of ICTs is a necessary pillar for building a global
information society, the ITU Strategy and Policy Unit took a
leading role in the facilitation of the WSIS Action Line C5. A
WSIS action line facilitation meeting on cybersecurity was
held, 15-16 May 2006 and a similar meeting is planned
during the WSIS cluster of events in May 2007. As part of
the commitment to coordinating the multistakeholder implementation of WSIS outcomes on cybersecurity, SPU, in
collaboration with ITU-T and ITU-D has established an internet portal dedicated to cybersecurity initiatives in ITU
Member States. ITU is also participating in the StopSpam
Alliance of international organizations.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/spu/cybersecurity/pgc
Policy research & analysis
programmes
ITU’s Strategy and Policy Unit has a number of initiatives,
jointly-developed with Member States and run in
conjunction with the Sectors, which are aimed at
promoting policy and regulatory research and market
analysis in the field of information and communication
technologies (ICTs). Each of these programmes include
organizing workshops, commissioning case studies and
background papers, developing resources websites and
producing publications. One of the main areas of focus
is for issues that require a multi-disciplinary approach
and which cut across the work of the Sectors. The main
research programmes, which are conducted in line with
Council Decision 496, are listed below.
New Initiatives Programme (NI)
Launched in 1999, on the
initiative of the SecretaryGeneral, the NI is intended to
provide policy advice to the
Secretary-General and a forum
for the membership to discuss
issues of high current policy
interest for the membership,
in particular on the socioeconomic impact of current
trends. To date, some 17 workshops have been held and
more than 50 studies completed. Recent topics include
“Regulatory environment for future mobile multimedia
services” and “What rules for IP-enabled Next-Generation
Networks?” New Initiatives topics are chosen through
a membership questionnaire. NIP sponsors include the
governments of Japan, Germany, Republic of Korea and
Thailand.
For more information, see www.itu.int/newinitiatives
Digital Opportunity Platform (DOP)
Launched in 2004 as the
“Building
Digital
Bridges”
initiative, this was converted in
2006 into a multi-stakeholder
partnership.
The
DOP
produces the annual “World
Information Society Report”
and has developed the Digital
Opportunity Index (DOI) as
a composite index for tracking progress in bridging the
digital divide and implementing the WSIS outcomes. An
inaugural Digital Opportunity Forum was held August
31-September 1 2006 and a conference on Digital
Transformations in the Information Society, June 1-2 2006,
jointly with the London Business School. Other partners in
the DOP include the MIC Korea, UNCTAD and the Korea
Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion.
For more information, see www.itu.int/digitalopportunity
Shaping Tomorrow’s Networks (STN)
Launched in 2005,
this programme is
concerned
with
network and service
convergence, and is
aimed at the creation of integrated telecommunications
infrastructures which will allow a faster and more efficient
global information exchange, and the identification of
potentially enabling technologies and suitable business
models. One of the main aims of the programme is to
assist the membership in preparing for, and benefiting
from, the trend towards convergence, especially in terms
of adaptation of regulation. The next workshop will be held
January 22-23 2007 on the topic “Market mechanisms for
spectrum management”. Partners in STN include the Ugo
Bordoni Foundation (Italy), UNEP and EBU.
For more information, see www.itu.int/STN
Internet Policy Issues
The ITU Strategy and Policy Unit
actively contributes to the ITU
activities
related
to
internet
protocol (IP)-based networks and
the management of internet
domain names and addresses;
which includes activities related
to Internet Governance. Recent
SPU activities focused, inter alia, on
policy and regulatory challenges
related to telecom migration to the
IP environment, countering spam,
cybersecurity, Internet Governance,
ENUM,
and
internationalized
domain names.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/spu/ip
For more detailed information about
these and other SPU activities, please
visit www.itu.int/spu.
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Special Retrospective Edition 2002-2006
Publications
SPU is committed to bringing the policy research and
market analysis carried out to the widest possible
audience. To do this, SPU maintains an active programme
of publications, case studies, background papers, resource
websites and blogs.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/spu/publications or www.itu.int/spu/newslog
The Internet Reports
The ITU Internet Reports cover
almost a decade of the evolution of the internet and the fixed
and mobile telephone networks.
The reports began under the title
“Challenges to the network” in
1997 and eight have been published so far. All the reports contain a global overview, detailed
case studies and a Statistical
Annex containing the very latest
market data on more than 200
world economies. “Digital.Life” is the eighth in the series
of ITU Internet Reports, published in December 2006 and
prepared specially for ITU TELECOM World in Hong Kong. It
focuses on consumers and looks at how human lives are
being continuously shaped and re-shaped by advances
in digital technologies.
series is to draw the attention of the ITU membership and
other ICT sector stakeholders to the most recent issues in
ICTs - new innovations of interest to the telecommunication
community, new developments in markets and emerging
regulatory challenges. The latest title in the series is on
the Future Regulatory Environment for Mobile Multimedia
Services, published in November 2006.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/ni
Shaping Tomorrow’s Networks Publication
Series
The Shaping Tomorrow’s Networks
(STN) Series’ main area of focus
is ICT convergence. It aims to
provide a detailed study of
integrated
telecommunication
infrastructures that will allow for
timely and more efficient global
information exchange, including
the identification of potential
enabling
technologies
and
suitable business models.
Furthermore,
the
STN
series
through case studies, thematic reports and publications
will tackle key issues related to convergence, including
the adaptation of policy and regulation to facilitate the
creation of tomorrow’s networks. The latest title in the series
is on “Tomorrow’s Network Today”, published in July 2006.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/stn
For more information, please see www.itu.int/internetreports
World Information Society Report
“The World Information Society
Report” is a new series of reports,
launched on World Information
Society Day (May 17) in 2006.
The report is produced by ITU in
partnership with UNCTAD and
the Korea Agency for Digital
Opportunity. The WISR series is
a response to call by the WSIS
to develop an annual series of
reports tracking progress in WSIS
implementation and bridging the
digital divide. The first report in
the series, published in July 2006, contained the first full
publication of the Digital Opportunity Index, a composite
index tracking ICT development worldwide which is part
of the evaluation methodology approved by WSIS.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/wisr
New Initiatives Publication Series
The New Initiatives Series consists of
publications and reports prepared for
the purposes of the international expert
workshops and research programmes
carried out under the ITU New Initiatives
Programmes. The main purpose of this
For an exhaustive list of all SPU
publications, please visit
www.itu.int/spu/publications.
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SPU Flash
Support to ITU Council and
ITU Plenipotentiary
Conference 2006
ITU Telecom World 2006
The ITU Strategy and
Policy
Unit
provides
secretariat
support
services to a number of
different ITU committees,
conferences, and groups
including Plenipotentiary
Conference, Council and
Council Working Groups.
SPU staff members are
also involved in many
cross sectoral initiatives and projects leading to the
improvement of the efficiency of the Union, such as the
ITU Publications Policy Committee, the Consultancy Project
task Force, the key performance indicators (KPI) project
and the Information Inventory.
The ITU TELECOM Forum team,
within the ITU Strategy and Policy
Unit, organizes the Forum at ITU
TELECOM events. Those carried
out since PP-02 include Telecom
Asia 2002 (Hong Kong, China),
TELECOM World 2003 (Geneva),
TELECOM Africa 2004 (Cairo),
TELECOM Asia 2004 (Busan)
and TELECOM Americas 2005
(Salvador da Bahia). The next
event will be ITU TELECOM WORLD
2006 to be held 4-8 December
2006 in Hong Kong, China, on the theme “living the digital
world”. The Forum brings together CEOs from operators
and vendors, ministers, regulators, users and other leading
decision-makers in ICT companies to discuss critical issues
that require a dialogue among different stakeholders. On
average, more than 2’500 people take part in Forums at
the global level.
ITU Council Group on WSIS
For more information see www.itu.int/WORLD2006/forum
The ITU Strategy and Policy Unit provided the Secretariat for
the ITU Council Working Group on the WSIS. The purpose of
the Group was to discuss the ITU’s role in the WSIS process
and to identify actions necessary for implementation of
the WSIS outcomes. The Group, which was chaired by Dr
Yuri Grin and Prof Vladimir Minkin (Russian Federation), held
ten meetings between September 2002 and September
2006.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/council/wsis/
wsis_WG.html
ITU Council Group on the elaboration of
the draft strategic and financial plans,
2008-2011
The ITU Strategy and Policy Unit provided the Secretariat
for the ITU Council Working Group on the elaboration of
the draft strategic and financial plans, 2008-2011, which
will guide the Union as it embarks upon the next period
in its history. A key feature of the new plans is resultsbased management and the linking together of strategic
goals with the biennial budget and the four-year rolling
operational plans. The plans are expected to be approved
at the Antalya Plenipotentiary.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/stratplan
To subscribe to the electronic version
of SPU Flash, please
see www.itu.int/spu/spunews
ITU Young Minds
programme
Since 2005, the Strategy
and Policy Unit has run
the Young Minds in
Telecoms competition.
The competition is open
to graduate students
and recent graduates
in economics, political
science, law, literature,
telecommunications, computer science, information
systems and related fields. The objective of the ITU Young
Minds Programme is to give young people valuable
exposure to the international telecommunication
environment and to the work of the ITU. One of the main
criteria for evaluation is the submission of an essay. Young
Minds scholarships have been awarded to students from
Hong Kong, China, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and
United Kingdom. The 2007 competition is now open for
submissions.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/spu/youngminds
Would you have any questions
concerning SPU activities, please
contact us at spumail@itu.int.
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